Fresh Snow and Sunshine at Snowmass Mountain

After a tough day of weather on Wednesday, seven inches of fresh snow and sunshine greeted the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team skiers and riders at Aspen’s Snowmass Mountain for a day of Toyota U.S. Grand Prix qualifiers.

The snowboard women kicked it off in the morning, with a hotly contested event leading to four U.S. women qualifying for Saturday’s finals. Arielle Gold (Steamboat Springs, Colo.) led the squad in first, with Maddie Mastro (Wrightwood, Calif.) second, Kelly Clark (Mammoth Mountain, Calif.) fourth and Chloe Kim (Torrance, Calif.) fifth.

The snowboard men competed in the afternoon, with snow beginning to fall in the sunlight. Greg Bretz (Mammoth Lakes, Calif.) and Chase Josey (Hailey, Idaho) qualified in the first heat, but the real event was the second heat, which stacked powerhouse rider after powerhouse rider. The U.S. stayed strong and dominated the field, with a clean sweep of the five finals spots. Shaun White (Mammoth Mountain, Calif.) led the team, with Ben Ferguson (Bend, Ore.) second, Jake Pates (Eagle, Colo.)—who recently surprised fans when he won the Dew Tour—third, Danny Davis (Highland, Mich.) fourth and rookie team rider Toby Miller (Carlsbad, Calif.) fifth.

The freeskiers competed in slopestyle qualifiers that saw some surprises in the results. McRae Williams (Park City, Utah) led the U.S., while The North Face Rookie Team skier Willie Borm (Chaska, Minn.) grabbed a spot over Olympic favorites. The real shock was 20-year-old Quinn Wolferman (Missoula, Mont.), who put down “the best run of his life” to make it to finals in only his second World Cup.

In the women’s slopestyle, both Maggie Voisin (Whitefish, Mont.) and Devin Logan (West Dover, Vt.) took spots in the finals.

Finals start Friday with freeski halfpipe and snowboard slopestyle. Finals stream live with a delayed same-day television airing on NBCSN.